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The Window Has Closed – Ups and Downs

With the closing of the transfer window let’s see where Arsenal are right now:

Pluses – The five signings are all strong. Sanchez, Chambers, Debuchy, Ospina, and Welbeck are either making or should make strong contributions to the team. Given that Arsenal is in four contests they will all be needed.

We did it on the cheap, like we always do. Even with the signing of Welbeck the team spent a little over 80 million. That is offset by the money the team will get from being in the Champions League. Since we don’t want to end up like Leeds or Rangers it is always smart to be a little tight with the money.

Minuses – We only signed five. That is the fewest of any team in the Premier League. Over the summer the team lost 5 players so the roster didn’t get any larger. The big reason this is a such a concern is that Arsenal were crippled by injuries last year and if that happens again we will be screwed again.

Some big holes didn’t get filled. Most importantly the team did not get a new holding midfielder. Anyone who follows the team knows that weakness in this area lead to some beatings at Chelsea and Manchester City last year. The failure to address this has left Arsenal open to the same counterattacks that hurt them so badly.

All-in-all I think this summer is an improvement over last but there is still work to do if Arsenal are really going to be a world class club.